After first joining Expedia Group as an intern from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) in Delhi, Pranjal returned in 2024 as part of the Expedia Group Graduate Program. Since then, she’s thrived in her Software Development role within the Computations team in Fraud and Risk, making a meaningful impact on safeguarding the overall travel experience for our customers. In this blog, we explore what life in the team looks like and how the Graduate experience compares to her time as an intern at EG.

Pranjal Maheshwari | Software Developer I | Gurgaon, India | Joined Expedia Group in 2023

Tell us about your team and your role.

I am part of the Computations team within the Risk and Fraud department at Expedia Group. Our mission is to build intelligent systems that detect and prevent fraud across the travel ecosystem, whether it comes from customers, suppliers, or transactions. Every service we develop helps protect genuine travellers and partners while reducing financial losses for the company. What makes my team unique is the direct business impact of our work: we combine data, technology, and innovation to solve high-stakes, real-world problems at global scale.

As an SDE I, my role revolves around building and enhancing systems that support fraud detection and mitigation. I contribute to services that help train machine learning models, process risk signals, and identify suspicious behaviour early in the customer journey. My day-to-day work involves developing reliable backend services, improving data processing pipelines, and ensuring our platforms remain scalable and resilient. The most exciting part of my role is knowing that the code I write has a direct business impact, in helping prevent fraudulent activities, reducing financial risk, and safeguarding the overall travel experience for customers. Every improvement, whether it is optimizing performance, fixing operational issues, or simplifying complex workflows, directly strengthens trust in the Expedia platform.

How has being on the Graduate Program contributed to your experience at EG?

The EG Graduate Program has been a strong launchpad for my professional journey. It gave me structured exposure to real-world engineering while ensuring I always had the right support system around me. From mentorship and training to working on impactful projects early on, the program helped me transition smoothly from campus to corporate life. Most importantly, it reinforced a key mindset: it is completely okay to not know things. What matters is the ability to learn fast, ask the right questions, and take ownership. Being part of a graduate cohort also meant learning alongside peers facing similar challenges, which made the experience collaborative, motivating, and enjoyable.

What are some of the main differences between the experience as an Intern and as a Graduate?

The biggest difference is ownership. As an Intern, the focus was on learning, experimenting, and contributing under guidance. As a Graduate, the expectations shift, you are trusted to deliver independently and own outcomes end-to-end. With that trust comes greater responsibility. You are expected to think critically, simplify problems, and make decisions that impact real users and systems. The learning never stops, but the way you approach problems changes.

What advice would you have for students starting their career journeys?

1. Choose Fearlessly: It is okay to not have everything figured out. Pick a direction, stay curious, and keep learning. Clarity comes with experience.
2. Communicate Proactively: Keep your team updated on your progress and challenges. Clear communication builds trust and accelerates growth.
3. Understand the Why: Before jumping into execution, understand the problem you are solving. Often, simple solutions create the biggest impact.

How does your role connect to travel and what have you learned about the industry?

Travel is a complex ecosystem that connects bookings, payments, suppliers, experiences, and customers across the globe. My role connects to this ecosystem by ensuring it remains safe, secure, and trustworthy. One of my biggest learnings has been how critical fraud prevention is. Fraud directly affects revenue, customer confidence, and operational efficiency. If not mitigated effectively, it can cause losses worth billions. Through my work, I have understood that protecting travellers is just as important as enabling bookings. Every fraud we prevent helps maintain trust in the platform and supports EG’s purpose of strengthening connections and broadening horizons.

What opportunities have you had to learn and develop in your role?

My growth at EG has been both technical and professional. I joined with limited backend experience, but over time I have gained hands-on exposure to tools and platforms such as AWS, Jenkins, Spinnaker, Splunk, Datadog, and Dataproc. One major learning milestone was writing functional and integration tests from scratch for a critical service. I independently set up the environment, deeply understood the system, and built robust test coverage to prevent future incidents. That experience significantly improved my confidence and understanding of production-grade engineering. And beyond tools, I have learned how to collaborate effectively, communicate with stakeholders, and approach problems with a business-first mindset.

Why would you recommend a career at EG?

Expedia Group is an incredible place to begin and build a career. The Intern and Graduate Programs provide the perfect mix of guidance, ownership, and real-world impact. You are surrounded by mentors who genuinely invest in your growth and peers who are on the same journey, making the transition into corporate life much smoother. But most importantly, the work we do has purpose. Every contribution helps power global travel and creates meaningful experiences for millions of people.

If you want to grow as an engineer, work on impactful technology, and be part of a mission-driven organization, Expedia Group is the perfect place.

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